Imminent Death of BayLISA / July Board Meeting Invitation

[Jim Hickstein]

--On Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:44 -0700 David Wolfskill 
<david at catwhisker.org> wrote:

> perspective; it is certainly not a diagnosis.)  And when a person is
> struggling to make ends meet, it can be difficult to allocate resources
> to activities that are not perceived as essential.
>
> So how do we get BayLISA to be perceived as *essential*?

Two comments:

1. I always perceived BayLISA as pretty close to essential to my mental 
health; I explained it to third parties as "my support group" in fact.  But 
I had a job through all of that, so maybe your point is valid.  If it has 
anything to offer along these lines, though, it should be _more_ 
sought-after these days, not less.  I think a resume workshop is a dandy 
idea.  A general bitch session, or more-structured survey about the job 
market, would likely also be popular.  In the later years, I went along as 
much to gauge the job market as to hear the technical topic.

2. Work on the reality, and the perception will come.  Go out and buy (or 
otherwise obtain) a copy of _Marketing Without Advertising_ by Philips et 
al, from Nolo Press.  Get over the M word in the title: the message of the 
book really is to stick to your knitting, create something of value, don't 
waste money on advertising but _do_ get yourself "listed" in the places 
where people will look for your service.  And encourage people to refer 
their friends to your service.  BayLISA is non-commercial, but these 
principles still apply.  Getting our events listed far and wide has always 
seemed to be a huge problem, but it really isn't: It just takes someone (a) 
knowing what to list far enough in advance, and (b) pushing a few buttons. 
And you can always announce a meeting even if the topic and speaker aren't 
yet known.

On referrals, how about some testimonials from people who have found jobs 
through BayLISA?  I'm afraid I don't remember his (your) name, but one 
fellow came to _one meeting_, met Adam Sah, came out to dinner afterward 
(very important) and was working for Addamark a week or two later.  I sat 
next to this chap at dinner; he was pleasant and engaging, and long-term 
unemployed at that moment.  But networking worked, for him; he had a 
positive (apparent) attitude, and was actively working this angle.  Maybe 
he or someone could give a seminar on how to do this.  Heaven knows 
sysadmins as a class aren't naturals at schmoozing this way.  (I still have 
to work at it.)  But like any skill it can be learned.

> Would it, perhaps, be useful if BayLISA assisted in some way with
> (re-)training?  Of course, it's easy for me to ask such things:  I tend
> to cope by reacting to others' statements of needs or requirements,
> rather than creating things like lesson plans....  :-{

OK, what training do you have in mind?  There are plenty of for-fee outlets 
with books and all that, but I think "master classes", with an extempore 
speaker and no money changing hands, could fill a need and be something 
that BayLISA is well able to provide.  This could just be the regular 
meeting, but called something new.  (Think marketing: List the meetings in 
places where people look for training.)

> I better cut this off now.

LOL!   Me, too.  See ya (sort of) at the July 1 meeting.  I live in St. 
Paul now, but I still work in this business (more or less), and my employer 
is still in Sunnyvale, so I travel there 3 or 4 times a year.  So I can 
stay involved somehow, if it's wanted.